Awful to Awesome in just a few dives!

Over the past few months, we have had an increasing number of emails from people who are interested in Scuba Diving but rather than taking the easy route with a simple entry/exit dive site with a bottom underneath you at all times, these enquiries are for Zenobia Diving for non-divers.

We do occasionally have scuba divers with an Open Water Certification (just passed) who ask to dive the Zenobia and while diving the top of the wreck is, technically, within the Open Water Diver Limits, below are the reasons we do not offer the wreck dives for this level of diver.

1. The Zenobia is a big, deep dive

The Zenobia sits in 42m of water. That is a long way down for people with no or limited experience in the water. With little experience, it can be difficult to maintain the buoyancy required to stay within safe limits and, for non divers, you are reliant on a good, vigilant instructor to keep you safe.

2. You miss all the good stuff

Most of the attractions that make Diving the Zenobia the amazing dive it is, are found between 22 and 35m deep. This means that, as a non diver or an Open Water Diver, you will miss most of these things.

The Bridge? 25m minimum! Canteen Swim through? 27m for the entrance! If you cannot see the main points of attraction on a dive, ask yourself, is it really worthwhile?

3. Confidence and Comfort make a better experience.

There are countless divers that we have taken onto the Zenobia wreck over the years that have previously dived it with friends or other dive centres when they were relatively new divers. While they say they enjoyed those dives, they also admit that they missed a lot of stuff on the wreck because they were so focused on the act of actually diving.

Being so new to diving is akin to new drivers. Until everything becomes comfortable and motor memory, it can be quite a lot to manage, so a lot of attention is paid to the basics and you don't have as much capacity to enjoy the actual site. With experience and confidence, it is a completely different dive.

We all know it is inherent in human nature to want to push that bit further. This is how great discoveries are made but when it comes to Scuba Diving, there is no great rush.

The Zenobia wreck will still be there when you have 20 dives under your belt and an Advanced Open Water/ Sports Diver certification in your hand. These wreck Dives can go from awful to mediocre to awesome in just a few dives so, take your time and save your cash until you can do it properly